


Infinitely and endlessly

by gilleboll



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, Domestic Fluff, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 11:44:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17406308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gilleboll/pseuds/gilleboll
Summary: Jake and Amy’s kid has something very important to tell them.





	Infinitely and endlessly

**Author's Note:**

> cw: brief (unintentional) misgendering  
> i will elaborate on this in the end notes.

It was 10:30 on a Thursday night and Amy Santiago-Peralta was sitting on the couch, watching TV with her husband. Things were good; they had a nice apartment, a good marriage and a child they loved more than anything else in the world. Amy was concerned though. Ariel, their sweet little 14-year-old angel, had been spending more and more time on her own locked in her room.

”Have you seen her today?” Jake asked, almost as if he had read Amy’s mind.

”Not since dinner, no...” she responded. ”I’m worried about her.”

”I know honey. But let’s not forget she’s a teenager. She probably just needs space to figure herself out.”

”But what if it’s not that? Jake, what if something’s up with her?” Amy asked. It felt good to talk about her worries, because honestly, sometimes it felt like they were eating her alive. ”What if we’re doing something wrong?”

Jake smiled softly at her and pulled her closer to him.

”You know... you sound like we’re still taking care of a little baby,” he mumbled into her hair.

”We are!” she responded, her hands flying up in what looked like an agitated shrug.

”Sure. We are — but not literally. You’re a wonderful parent, Ames. You aren’t doing anything wrong. If you wanna talk to her, then we can do that.”

Amy nodded, contemplating her options. On the one hand she could check in on Ari and risk intruding on her space. On the other hand, she could leave Ari to her own devices and risk leaving her alone and isolated when she needed company the most.

 

She didn’t get to finish her deliberation before she was interrupted.

”Mom... Dad...”

Ari was standing in the doorway looking more anxious than Amy had ever seen her. Jake immediately shot out of the couch when he saw his child in distress.

”Hey, hey...” he said softly as he embraced Ari. ”What’s wrong?”

Amy heard Ari draw deep, somewhat shaky breaths against the fabric of Jake’s shirt. Now, Amy was on her feet as well. She gently stroked Ari’s hair and at the same time she shot Jake a worried glance. He looked just as concerned as she felt. Their daugher drew one more deep breath before she spoke.

”I, uh... I...” Another breath. A short silence. ”I think I might be- I might be a boy.”

”Sweetheart,” Amy said, desperately searching for something to say. She had, somewhere in the back of her mind, known that there would be a chance that her child would be LGBT, but it was honestly never something she had seriously considered. If she was honest, that made her feel kind of stupid. How come she had never even though about the possibility of her daughter actually being her son. Thankfully, Jake seemed to know what he was doing and he sprung into action. He was already leading Ari to the couch, mumbling encouragements. Amy followed suit, and sat down on her child’s other side.

”Thanks for letting us know,” Jake said.

 

Finally, Amy knew what she wanted to say.

”What do you want us to call you?” she asked as she wiped a tear from Ari’s cheek. Ari chuckled a little.

”I’m not sure yet... but please don’t call me Ariel. Or her.”

Amy nodded.

”Okay. Should we call you Ari? Until you figure things out?” she asked. Ari nodded.

”Please,” he said. His voice still wasn’t steady, but he sounded relieved. Jake squeezed his son’s shoulder lightly and got up from the couch.

”I’ll make some hot cocoa, okay?” he asked.

”Make enough for all of us babe,” Amy said, looking up at him. He gave her a thumbs up and disappeared into the kitchen.

”Mom?” Ari asked. Amy looked at him, her eyebrows raised quizzically.

”Do you think I could get a binder? For my birthday. And maybe a haircut?” He ran his hand through his shoulder-length hair. Amy smiled warmly and took her son’s hand.

”Of course. We’ll go to the hairdresser’s tomorrow. If I’m honest, your dad needs a haircut as well.”

”I do _not_ ,” Jake said when he returned with three mugs of hot cocoa. A smile was playing on his lips.

 

* * *

 

Two weeks later, Amy knocked on their son’s door. Jake was behind her, holding three more or less neatly wrapped presents. Amy opened the door, peeking inside.

”Hey. You awake?” she asked and stepped into the room. Ari was sitting in his bed, combing his fingers through his now short — and very messy — hair.

”Happy birthday,” Jake said when he stepped in as well. He handed his son the presents he was holding with a broad smile. Ari thanked them both and got to opening his gifts. Amy had gotten him a new fantasy novel. Jake got him a new hoodie from the men’s section, which was greatly appreciated. He finally got to the last present, which he eagerly opened.

”Tada!” Amy said as a red three-ring binder fell onto the duvet.

”Mom that’s not what I-”

”Open it!”

Ari’s eyes widened in excitement as he opened the binder and found what was inside. Not only was there a chest binder in there, but a heartfelt letter from Jake and Amy about how proud they were of their son for his coming out. Ari smiled so wide it looked like he was going to burst.

 

* * *

 

_Dear Ari,_

_The love of our lives, our light in the darkness. We love you infinitely and endlessly, and we’re so happy for you. After so many years, you get to be who you are, and we are so happy for you._

_If you ever need anything, whether that be emotional support or a doctor’s visit, we’d drop everything and anything to be there for you when you need it._

_We hope you want to keep us in the loop during this process._

_Always here for you,_

_your Mom and Dad._

**Author's Note:**

> this is a fic from a parent’s point of view of a child coming out as trans. this means that there is a bit of unintentional misgendering in the beginning, before theu know their child is trans. i would never make these characters intentionally misgender someone. especially not their child.
> 
> with that said, i hope you liked this! i like to think about trans representation in the b99 universe and once i got this idea i couldn’t get it out of my head. i got the binder in a binder thing from a tumblr-post circulating around christmas and i got inspired. comments and kudos are appreciated!


End file.
